Hyderabad

The City
Hyderabad, the capital city of Andhra Pradesh was earlier known
more for its pearls, Nawabs and mouth watering cuisine than as
its progressive image now as a hi-tech city. It shot into the
limelight as it aggressively wooed IT majors from overseas, and
continues to be one of India’s first cities to lead the IT revolution
in India.

Rated as the fourth fastest growing city in the world by the
US based International Market Research Report, Hyderabad is a
trend setter for other emerging cities aspiring to cash in on
the IT boom. Its twin city Secunderabad, across the Hussain Sagar
Lake has shared its success and supported its growth. Hyderabad
is well on its way to becoming a global city with India’s first
Fab City, a silicon chip manufacturing facility being setup with
an investment of $3 billion by the AMD-SemIndia consortium.

Hyderabad has a large talent pool, and known for its research
institutes and academic institutes, both privately run and promoted
by the government. The Birla Institute of Technology will add
to the resource pool as it sets up its third campus in India on
200 acres at Jawaharnagar near Shamirpet.

The Hyderabad Information Technology Engineering Consultancy
City, or HITEC City is a 151 acre self-reliant business park,
jointly controlled by the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure
Corporation and Larsen and Toubro, and home to the who’s who of
the IT industry, both national and international.

The next decade will witness a quantum leap in business, as Rs.
70,000 crore will be dedicated to various projects in the city.
These include: the Infosys Software Park as it relocates from
Bangalore to a campus 4 times its size, a Hardware Park on 2500
acres, the Nanotech Park on 1100 acres, a Gems and Jewellery park
on 200 acres, a Textiles Park on 500 acres, the Reliance LPG facility
on 25,000 acres, an Aero Park for Aero space and Aeronautics and
the Trade Centre Tower.

Infrastructure
Hyderabad has efficient inter city links through air, road and
rail. Within the city, apart from an excellent bus transport network,
the MMTS rail connects various parts of the city with Hyderabad,
Secunderabad, Lingampally and Falaknuma. Hyderabad is scheduled
to get a Metro system to help ease urban congestion.

A new international airport is under construction by GMR Hyderabad
international at Shamshabad and will be operational by March 1,
2008 The airport, being built at a cost of Rs. 1350 crore to cater
to 40 million passengers a year, is expected to be one of the
best in this region and will house world-class facilities. The
work on the flyover linking Mehdipatnam to the Shamshabad Airport
has started.

The expansion of the city has led the Hyderabad Metropolitan
Development Authority to augment the civic infrastructure in the
city. The 8-lane Outer Ring Road will circle 170 kms on Hyderabad’s
periphery, free of traffic signals and supported by service lines.

India’s longest flyover from Masab tank to the new airport is
taking shape at a cost of Rs. 800 crores. The Aga Khan International
University will be developed on a 100 acre campus, while a Knowledge
Corridor in partnership with the Dubai Government is being planned
on the stretch between Kanamet and Kollur.

Photo: Financial District, Hyderabad – Wide panoramic skyline view from by iMahesh, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.